Where Does Chelsea's Eden Hazard Rank Among the World's Best Attackers?

As far as endorsements go, they do not come much better than Jose Mourinho's praise for Eden Hazard last week.

"It was by far our best away performance of the season,” Mourinho said on the back of Chelsea's 4-3 victory over Sunderland, per The Telegraph. “We played fantastic football. We created, we were dynamic and we had a special Hazard."

Indeed, they did.

That night, Hazard was in inspired form for his team. Not only did he earn himself an assist, crossing for Frank Lampard to head home his equalizer, but he also scored twice to make sure of the three points.

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Those goals took his tally to eight for the season in all competitions, making him Chelsea's top scorer in the process.

His form this term is exactly what his club would have wanted. After an encouraging first season at Stamford Bridge, Hazard is evolving into a more prolific goal threat and as a result, Chelsea are more dangerous on the attack.

The Blues have concerns with the form of their strikers, yet with Hazard playing the way he is, a lack of goals from the front men isn't proving as much of an issue as perhaps it should be.

His performances this season have been encouraging, although at 22, it's clear the Belgian has much more to perfect if he is to scale the heights of his peers.

"[Hazard's] ambition from first to last [against Sunderland] was, for me, the first time [I have seen this from him]," Mourinho continued in The Telegraph.

"Sometimes he does incredible things then disappears from the game. A bit like a kid enjoying it. Today he was fantastic throughout."

And herein lays the main concern with Hazard—consistency.

Mourinho's analysis from the Sunderland victory was much more than a summary of one game in isolation—it epitomised his brief Chelsea career since his £32 million move from Lille.

Hazard was phenomenal in the early stages of 2012-13, blowing away Chelsea's opposition who simply didn't know how best to deal with his threat. As the season developed, however, his form dipped until the latter stages, when he rediscovered his Midas touch.

It's akin to his form in matches: Hazard starts well, disappears before finishing strongly.

It's a trait that repeats itself in football. Young player shows his brilliance in flashes before eventually becoming the finished article and a world beater.